Not a drop of water belonging to India will flow into Pakistan: Union Minister Shekhawat

Following the completion barrage project on the Ravi river, Union Jal Shaki Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that not a single drop of water belonging to India will be allowed to flow into Pakistan. After holding a meeting with the administrative officials of the Ranjeet Sagar Dam, the Union Minister hoped the project will be completed by 2022.

"All of the water which belongs to India will be used in the country. Not even a single drop will flow into Pakistan. The barrage project will provide the farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan their fair share of water," said the Union Jal Shakti Minister after his visit to the under-construction barrage project on the Ravi river.

"The excess water, after the dam's capacity is filled, will be sent to more than 100 villages in the border areas. On this project, the Centre will provide 86 per cent funds while 14 per cent will be shared by the Punjab government," added Shekhawat. 

India and Pakistan had signed a treaty for sharing of water of the rivers of the Indus drainage system in 1960. The agreement, mediated by the World Bank, is known as the Indus Waters Treaty. Under this treaty, Pakistan got a favourable division of waters of the six rivers of the Indus system. India is allocated the waters of the Sutlej, the Beas and the Ravi - the three less voluminous eastern tributaries of the Indus. 

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Underground Water Resources Up To 22% Dried Up Or In Critical Category

A month earlier, Shekhawat said that almost 22 per cent of underground water resources in the country have either dried up or fall in the critical category. He also mentioned that the government has initiated work on mapping all the aquifers in the country for their better management.

Speaking at an event, the Minister said that the government is committed to complete the mapping of all the aquifers (groundwater resources) in the country by the next two years, while work on mapping the aquifers in the critically exploited districts is aimed to be completed by March 2020.

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(With Inputs from ANI)